Love-Local x GoByBikeBC

For the first time, GoByBikeBC added a winter cycling campaign (in addition to their regular spring and fall weeks) to encourage rides the week of February 7-13, 2022. Simultaneously, Southern Gulf Islands were promoting inter-island travel via their Love-Local Bingo game from Feb 1-13. We celebrated both with a Pender Island bikeride on Sunday, February 13.

A little background: I’ve been obsessed with Love-Local Bingo for the past two weeks. The contest came along just at the right time to lift me out of the winter doldrums. As a family, we checked off each of the 25 squares, from “cook a meal with local ingredients” to “read a book about the Southern Gulf Islands” and “Pick a winter bouquet for someone you love”, just as the first snowdrops, daffodils, and crocuses began to bloom. To get us “off the rock”, each box completed on another island than your own entered you into the Grand Prize draw to take place on February 14th!

So, at this past week’s Cycling Salt Spring meeting around the campfire, we decided to organize a Pender Island bikeride on the final day of each: February 13th. I contacted a few special farmstands and shops to make sure they’d be ready for us and drew this route on a map (note the cheesecake fridge).

The day started off a little early… by catching the 7:15am ferry out of Long Harbour on Salt Spring Island with the rising sun. Luckily, there’s coffee onboard.

We were a dirty dozen, most of us on e-bikes in anticipation of Pender’s hilly topography. We decided to head south first towards Roe Lake, which was fortunate. After a stop at a kitschy farmstand, we passed donkeys and quiet hamlets in the woods, emerging to the Pender Island Museum, Gulf Island National Park offices, and Roe Islet.

Then we ascended on rocky paths into the “uncharted” portion of the ride, to Roe Lake and down again to Shingle Bay. These trails are best walked… The lake temperature was just right, and a bald eagle buzzed a flock of ducks, startling the serene water.

After a vertical descent through arbutus groves, we found ourselves in the greater-Magic Lake neighbourhood, aka home of The Cheesecake Fridge. As we sought this golden grail of Pender Isle, tragedy was averted once we realized that “The Fridge of Wonders”, which is closed until Spring, is DIFFERENT from The Cheesecake Fridge, which is two houses down. With deep sighs of satisfaction, ultimate creamy decadence was savoured and all was right with the world. At that point, my Pender mission had been accomplished. Everything after that would be extra.

ONWARDS HO! After a slow-mo drive-by of Slow Roast Coffee, we bumped down to Medicine Beach. The way the winter light reflected off the water and up into the trees, shimmering the coniferous forest, was definitely deeply medicinal.

Cruising on, around the corner, and up and down hills and dales, past farms and forest cabins we went, until gravity brought us screaming into the Driftwood Centre for brunch at the Vanilla Leaf Cafe (and a little charge-up for the bikes).

With a good caffeine & protein boost, we headed north to Hope Bay to visit the Pender Islands Conservancy‘s brilliant storefront teaching about wildlife and habitat on this fair Isle, as well as Pender Island Chocolates, where we stocked up on loving gifts for our special Valentines.

Then out and across the Island on Port Washington Road, passing sheep and geese, and stopping at the most delightful Renaissance Studio Gallery for inspiring art and sparkly “Spring Bling” with Milada.

Back to the Ferry, past friendly golfers, arriving with plenty of time to spare to soak up the sun, watch the sea lion dive, cormorants dry their wings, and seagulls soar. A bald eagle dive-bombed the pigeons… and we sailed off into the sunshine at 1:30pm, frantically entering all of our Love-Local photo entries via cell phones before their 3pm cut-off.

In truth, we all won big with these five hours of fun. Thanks to Sean Mulligan at Outspokin Bikes for the two loaners, to Terri-Lynn Gifford & colleagues for organizing the GoByBikeBC Winter Ride and to Kya Dalton and the Southern Gulf Islands’ Chambers of Commerce for the Love-Local Bingo campaign that got us out for this phenomenal and memorably joyous SUN-day on Pender.

p.s. Thanks to this brilliant ride, Caroline won a $1000 vacation on Mayne Island today! See you there for our next ride, eh?

(photos by Bob MacKie, Robin Jenkinson, and Carolyn Hopp)